Enzymological classification of salt lakes in Romania

Sediments of 56 salt lakes from Romania were studied enzymologically. The following 7 enzymatic and nonenzymatic catalytic activities have been measured: phosphatase, H₂O₂-splitting in nonautoclaved (catalase) and autoclaved samples, TTC reduction in nonautoclaved (dehydrogenase) and autoclaved samples, without or with glucose addition. A formula is proposed for the evaluation of the enzymatic potential of salt lake sediments or other habitats. A hierarchy of the studied lakes has been established on the basis of the enzymatic potential of their sediments expressed as enzymatic indicator.     

Rewriting the book of the city: on old signs,new technologies,and reinventing Adelaide

Can a sense of ownership over constantly changing urban places be generated through pedestrian exploration and everyday digital media practice? This paper begins with the author’s visit to the city of Adelaide, where a chance encounter – an intriguing sign painted on the wall of a city building – led to a hunt through the city for ghost signs, the remnants of old hand-painted advertisements. This spontaneous activity, combined with the online exploration and image sharing that followed, generated a renewed feeling of connection to, and ownership over, an erstwhile familiar locale. The experience is analysed through the work of theorists investigating change and belonging in modern cities including Guy Debord, Doreen Massey, Michel de Certeau, Andreas Huyssen, and Mark Crinson, as well as the contemporary growth in both politically inspired urban exploring (“Urbex” or “place hacking”) and the digital documentation and sharing of ghost signs and other urban ephemera.     

Possible effects of climate change on estuarine nutrient fluxes: a case study in the highly nutrified Schelde estuary (Belgium, The Netherlands)

Global change models predict effects of climate change on hydrological regimes at the continental scale in Europe. The aim of this study was to gain a better understanding of the possible effect of changing external forcing conditions on the functioning of estuarine ecosystems. In densely populated areas, anthropogenic nutrient enrichment and consequent alteration of nutrient biogeochemical cycles have already had a big impact on these ecosystems. The average yearly discharge of the upper Schelde estuary increased nearly threefold over the period 1996–2000, from 28 m³ s⁻¹ in 1996 to 73 m³ s⁻¹ in 2000. The continuously rising discharge conditions over the five-year period were used as a reference situation for possible future effects of climate on ecological functioning through increase of discharge. At high discharges, nutrient (NH₄⁺, NO₃⁻, dissolved silica and PO₄³⁻) concentrations in the tidal fresh- and brackish water showed a decrease of up to 50% while total discharged nutrient loadings increased up to 100%. Opposite effects of increasing discharge on NH₄⁺, NO₃⁻ and dissolved silica concentrations in summer and winter, resulted in the flattening out of seasonal cycles for these nutrients. Under high discharge conditions, silica uptake by diatom communities was lowered. Dissolved silica loadings to the coastal area increased concurrently with total silica loadings upstream. Salt intrusion to the marine parts of the estuary decreased. This resulted in a downstream shift of the salinity gradient, with lower salinity observed near the mouth. As a result, TDIN, NO₃⁻ and dissolved silica concentrations doubled at the mouth of the estuary.     

Ein Vorkommen von Lorandit (T1AsS 2) in der Schweiz

A new find of the thallium-arsenic-sulphosalt mineral lorandite in the Triassic dolomite of the famous Lengenbach quarry in Binnatal, Ct. Wallis (Switzerland) is described. Herewith the Lengenbach is, up to now, only the third locality, where lorandite has been found at all. The d-values for X-ray powder pattern, morphological data, and a microprobe analysis are given. Reflection percentage (for green light of 5300 Å) is 32.6%, Vickers hardness number (with load of 30 g) is 38.9. Relations to the different thallium-sulphosalts of the Lengenbach are discussed.

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Zum Schluß möchte ich noch meinem Freunde Herrn Dr. H. A. Stalder, Konservator an der Mineralogischen Abteilung des Naturhistorischen Museums Bern, herzlich danken für die Überlassung einer Vergleichsprobe von Lorandit aus Allchar.     

Spatial and Temporal Distribution of Oxidation Events Occurring Below the Sediment-Water Interface

Abstract. Irrigation and bioturbation lead to transport of dissolved oxygen into anoxic sediments. The depthdistribution of local oxygen input and the total time of oxygen presence was measured at randomly sampled locations within anoxic sediments, originating from the North Sea.
In the laboratory, continuous redox potential records, displaying a transient increase and decrease when in contact with oxygen for a limited time, were used to record oxidation events'. Oxygen microelectrodes were used to confm the presence of oxygen. Measurements were performed for 180 d at 230 locations in the top 6 cm of sediment cores containing the natural macrofauna community.
4783 oxidation events m^-2· d^-1 were recorded within the upper 6 cm of the sediment. The number and duration of oxidation events declined with sediment depth below the oxic zone. Oxygen was present in the anoxic sediment, as determined from redox potential measurements, ≥ 6 h per day at 10% of the randomly chosen locations within the upper 3 cm. The overall distribution of oxidation events and their duration suggest that local, pulsed additions of oxygen by irrigation may be sufficient to maintain an oxidised sediment layer ( sensu J orgensen amp; R evsbech , 1989). Oxic environments along burrow walls rapidly fluctuate between oxic and anoxic conditions. Using oxygen microelectrodes the presence of oxygen (oxic conditions) in these halos was found to range from 2 to 12 h per day. Continuous redox measurements show that oxidised conditions fluctuate with the oxygen pulses and display the same durations, although these may range up to 21 h per day. Oxic and oxidised sediment volumes are estimated to represent < 1% and 3.7%. respectively, of the anoxic sediment to 6 cm depth. Recognition of temporal variability and spatial heterogeneity of sedimentary conditions may prove valuable for future conclusions drawn in other research fields.